Baby boy rescued and returned to parents after sitting in stolen car for three hours

The boy was successfully located in the stolen car and returned to his parents.

A baby boy has been returned to his parents after sitting in a car that had been allegedly stolen for three hours in Australia.  The 11-month-old baby was sitting in his mother's Toyota in Melbourne on Tuesday when a man jumped into the vehicle and drove away. The car was sitting idle around 2.10pm when the incident occurred. According to ABC.net, local authorities put out an alert for the car and appealed for the public's assistance in locating the car and the child. Some three hours later following a tip-off from a member of the public, the baby boy was successfully located and returned to his parents. The car was later found and a man in his 50s arrested. Inspector Fiona Halford said the police had "the utmost concern for the baby's welfare" after the "opportunistic" theft of the car.

“I just cannot thank the public enough," she added. "It was a member of the general public that notified police and subsequently police have attended that location and found the child safe and well."

This comes a few months after a young girl jumped from a car that was being stolen from a petrol station in Belfast.  The 10-year-old girl was left "shocked and shaking" after escaping from the stolen car while waiting for her father. Colin Ashwood, the girl's father, explained that he was paying for petrol in the Spar store when he saw his daughter run from the car. "She came running in squealing saying: ‘Daddy, daddy - someone is stealing the car. By the time I got out to the car he had sped away," he said. "It is just the way he walks up to the car, gets in, and then sees my daughter in the passenger seat before jumping out and running away." “My daughter came in shaking and squealing and crying." Images via Victoria Police.